Country Facts
Map of the Ivory Coast
Geographic Information
Location
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia
Latitude and Longitude
8° N, 5° W
Area
Total: 322,460 kilometers²
Water: 4,460 kilometers²
Land: 318,000 kilometers²
Climate
The climate is equitorial-tropical (rain from April to July and from October to November) in the South/along the coast and semi-arid in the North. There are three seasons - warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), hot and wet (June to October). From December to February, there is "l'harmattan" wind (a dry North wind with sand) in the North.
Land Use
Arable land: 9.28%
Permanent crops: 13.84%
Other: 76.88% (1998 est.)
Natural Resources
Petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, hydropower
Principal Cities
Yamoussoukro (population 110,000, political capital)
Abidjan (pop. 2,800,000, economic capital)
Bouaké (pop. 450,000)
Daloa (pop. 102,300)
Gagnoa (pop. 91,000)
Korhogo (pop. 87,800)
Man (pop. 59,500)
Abengourou (pop. 50,600)
San Pedro (pop. 48,000)
Government
Independence
7 August (1960) (from France)
Structure
Republic; multiparty presidential regime established 1960
Capital
Yamoussoukro; note - although Yamoussoukro has been the official capital since 1983, Abidjan remains the commercial and administrative center
National Song
L'ABIDJANAISE - Lyrics in French
Economy
Overview
Cote d'Ivoire is among the world's largest producers and exporters of coffee, cocoa beans, and palm oil. Consequently, the economy is highly sensitive to fluctuations in international prices for these products and to weather conditions. Despite government attempts to diversify the economy, it is still largely dependent on agriculture and related activities, which engage roughly 68% of the population. After several years of lagging performance, the Ivorian economy began a comeback in 1994, due to the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc and improved prices for cocoa and coffee, growth in nontraditional primary exports such as pineapples and rubber, limited trade and banking liberalization, offshore oil and gas discoveries, and generous external financing and debt rescheduling by multilateral lenders and France. Moreover, government adherence to donor-mandated reforms led to a jump in growth to 5% annually during 1996-99. Growth was negative in 2000-02 because of the difficulty of meeting the conditions of international donors, continued low prices of key exports, and severe civil war fighting.
GDP
purchasing power parity - $24.03 billion (2002 est.)
GDP Per Capita
Purchasing power parity - $1,400 (2002 est.)
GDP By Sector
Agriculture: 29% Industry: 22% Services: 49% (2001 est.)